"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Thursday, January 10, 2013

When will testing fever end?

Sent to Education Week, January 10, 2013.

“Testing group picks ‘college readiness’ exam” (January 9) announces yet another test to add to the staggering pile of tests our students must take. When will this end?

Because there is no evidence that adding more tests helps students, and plenty of evidence that increased testing will be very profitable for those who sell the tests and supply the infrastructure for the required on-line testing, the obvious answer is that testing fever will end only when the greed of the standardized-testing-industrial-complex is satisfied.

In other words, never.

Stephen Krashen

Original article: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/01/09/15parcc.h32.html?qs=testing+group+picks